SUMMERHOUSE

Remember those lazy summer afternoons when you'd spend hours building elaborate LEGO houses? SUMMERHOUSE feels exactly like that, except you don't have to worry about stepping on any plastic bricks.

The game is the latest creation from Friedemann Allmenröder, the mind behind Islanders, and it's basically a digital sandbox where you can build the cozy neighborhood of your dreams. No pressure, no objectives – just you and your imagination running wild.

I've spent way too many hours with this game, and I still can't get enough of it. It's demolished my productivity (along with Tiny Glade, of course,) but I can't deny that there's something almost therapeutic about placing each little window just right, or deciding whether that garden needs one more tree.

If you've ever lost entire weekends to The Sims' build mode but wished it was less about managing virtual people's bathroom needs and more about creating perfect little spaces, SUMMERHOUSE is exactly what you've been looking for.

Pure Freedom

You know how most building games these days feel the need to gamify everything? Not SUMMERHOUSE. There's no resource management, no unhappy citizens, no missions – nothing standing between you and your architectural dreams.

It's great to see more developers learning from Tiny Glade. My OCD doesn't really need another Factorio – sometimes, I like to just kick back and build pretty things. SUMMERHOUSE allows me to do just that. And pretty it is, by the way.

Visual Chicken Soup for the Soul

SUMMERHOUSE is one of the prettiest indie games I've ever played. No joke. Every single piece feels like it was crafted with love, from the way sunlight catches on window panes to how leaves flutter in the breeze. It's got this wonderful hand-crafted feel to it – like someone took their childhood memories of perfect summer days and turned them into a game.

The attention to detail is ridiculous. You can zoom right in and see tiny flowerpots on windowsills, or pull back and watch your entire neighborhood bask in the golden hour light. It makes games like The Sims 4 look almost kitsch in comparison.

Hidden Depths

Just when you think you've seen everything SUMMERHOUSE has to offer, you'll stumble across something new. Maybe it's a hidden building piece tucked away in an unexpected place, or a special effect that only happens at sunset. The game invites you to keep experimenting with the limited toolset it has to offer.

Again, I think Tiny Glade began this trend of forcing players to innovate through limited gameplay options. In games like The Sims, if you wanted to add double doors to a building, you just added them from the catalog. However, in games like SUMMERHOUSE and Tiny Glade, you literally have to make them from scratch.

That's what sets these creative games apart, and why I think we're at the doors of an emerging genre with these relaxed city-building games. At least, I really hope we are – I just can't get enough of these stress-free building experiences.

Pros

• Complete creative freedom without any annoying restrictions
• Some of the coziest visuals you'll ever see in a game
• Perfect for unwinding after a long day

Cons

• Might feel aimless if you need more structure